Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Marie Antoinette is Alive and Well on Wall Street

And we all know what happened to her. Public fear and anger are reaching a boiling point. Don’t think it couldn’t happen again.

Yesterday’s congressional hearing uncovered some unbelievable sociopathic attitudes that are just begging for another guillotine (or maybe something else that isn't as quick). Lehman Brothers CEO Richard S. Fuld, Jr. was questioned by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He at least had enough sense to act humble and cry the requisite crocodile tears:

“This is a pain that will stay with me for the rest of my life…Until the day they put me in the ground, I will wonder.” Yada yada yada…

Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) made Fuld do some serious squirming. But then John Mica (R-Shitstain) tried to trivialize the whole procedure by telling Fuld: “If you haven’t discovered your role today, you’re the villain, so you have to act like the villain.” Hahahahahahaha. Millions of people are scared to death that they won't even have a job or a home next month. Let’s make fun of them. Douchebag!

And some interesting internal e-mails were uncovered. Last June, some executives from a Lehman subsidiary — Neuberger Berman — suggested to Fuld that Lehman’s top executives give up their bonuses this year. This would “send a strong message to both employees and investors that management is not shirking accountability for recent performance.”

Can you say “Lead Balloon?”

Fuld shot down the idea. And another Lehman executive, George H. Walker — you guessed it, he's part of the Bush Crime Family — was even more appalled by that socialist outburst. He sent an e-mail to the rest of the executive committee: “Sorry team. I am not sure what’s in the water at Neuberger Berman. I’m embarrassed and I apologize.”

22 Comments:

Sure, the water might be a bit lukewarm? But hot guillotine action? Here? A man can dream, Philip J. Fry, a man can dream. Sniff.

I can't even begin to express just how much I hate these fuckers. The most frustrating part? All this rage would be better served screaming at my teevee the next time the Browns fuck up, but nooooo, all these assholes refuse to spontaneously combust.

Lew: That's right, and then our congressional "representatives" who "questioned" them, go home at the end of the day to THEIR McMansions and gated communities. It's all just so cozy. I can't understand why nothing changes.

After hearing that AIG took the $85 billion then went on vacation using that money for any and everything to relax and enjoy. I would love to see Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac answer some of these questions as well.

As for George H. Walker, Bush's cousin and Fuld, they can all jump right off a cliff.

Paulson should hand every penny back to the American people and forget about this bailout.

Reminds me of a few years ago when American Airlines screwed its pilots coming and going (pun intended). That is, the ones it hadn't dumped to cut costs in an effort to make the company profitable.

When AA did start to turn a profit again, it handed out big, fat bonuses throughout the executive suite. And the pilots obliged to sacrifice so the company could survive? You guessed it; they got nothing.

Mention these regularly occurring incidents and our friends on the right accuse us of class warfare. The truth is that class warfare has been going on for 30 years, and they've been waging it very successfully against the rest of us.

Yeah, some really odd things coming out of tried and true right-wingers at the moment. Our PM, a self-described "economic conservative" in the last election is now calling for an end to "extreme capitalism."

I'm sorry, I can't see this guy waving a red flag and leading a revolution ;)

SW: I don't remember that about American Airlines in particular, but that's the kind of thing that's been going on all over the country. Service cutbacks, layoffs, reduced wages and benefits -- but the one thing that seems completely untouchable is the executives' salaries and bonus packages.

Oops, I'm engaging in class warfare.

Benjamin: Well, that's good that the PM is changing his political views. Whether it's a genuine conviction or just responding to the polls, it's gotta be a good sign.